Loki's Language of Lies
by Ember Carsyn
Summary: Rhosyn Stark speaks Loki's language. When they first met during The Avengers, they made plans to work together in the future. Fast forward to post-TDW. Loki and Rhosyn are working together and trickery is back in business on Midgard. Minor Thane in background, along with Pepperoni and Darcy's reunion with her taser. (summary to change as plot develops further)
1. Prologue

Prologue:

_What is done in vain_  
_Truth is hard to swallow_  
_So you pray to God_  
_To justify the way you live a lie_  
_Live a lie_  
_Live a lie_

"You and I both know you could overpower me and be out there, exposing his web of lies in a moment, yet you stand here, letting me block the door, as you listen to your heir being told to go live with his mortal girlfriend." I commented, curious as to why Odin, Allfather, King of Asgard, was just standing there, a bit close for comfort, watching the proceedings in silence.

"I don't because I know that this is for the best. It is what Frigga would have wanted. She gave her life for this Midgardian woman." Odin seems sad, and I see a tear glimmer in his eye as Thor turns and rushes off to leave, to go back to Jane Foster in London, England, the UK. "You are a strange mortal woman, to be a friend to Loki."

"He and I speak the same language." I feel awkward in these halls in my boots, jeans, and heavy bomber coat. I suppose here is better than in the mess of London, with the kid who thinks I'm his cousin, Ian what's his name.

"You speak his language," Odin remarks, as I hear Loki's normal voice returning. "Who are you on Midgard?"

"I call it Earth, even though Midgard sounds cool as shit." I sigh. "Why are you really letting Loki do this?"

"Because it allows me to see who he really is. A man who cares, yet does not want to be seen caring, rather be seen spinning his web. He is still my son, even if I did tell him that he deserved to have died." Odin seems tired. "You didn't answer my question mortal one. I can still change my mind about allowing two mortal women into Asgard's sacred realm in such a short time span. Even if you were helpful in fighting off the final attack."

I remember the projection telling me about that encounter. I remember the projection telling me Frigga had died, sobbing about the last conversation he had had with her. I gulp. "I'm what Midgard people call a con-artist. To live, I spin a web of lies, creating new identities as I will. I'm formally trained as a Midgardian doctor, and I'm not a practicing doctor, because of a falling out with my older brother about his life choices. He has no clue where I am and I feel like shit because I have biweekly luncheons with his girlfriend and I make her promise not to tell him. And I'm missing one because Loki needed my help, and she had to cancel the past two because of my brother." I don't tell him how I knew how to fight, because that has to do with my current occupation.

"You're careful to not say names. I could just ask Heimdall, but I give you the benefit of the doubt mortal." Odin looms over me, clutching his axe like a walking stick for a moment. He's old, even if he is immortal, and he just lost his wife and Loki is still officially dead. "I know what you and Loki returned here for. I was saving that for a different purpose." He sighs. "You must at least tell me your name so that it can be given in the tales they will sing at the ale houses in celebration."

"My name?" I see Loki beckoning me, telling me it's time to go. I walk backwards towards his arms, where I know he's going to teleport us to the entrance to our escape route. "Stark," I call out, and it echoes through the empty hall. "Rhosyn Stark." And then I feel the familiar feeling of Loki's magic wrapping around me.

Somehow I feel that dear Odin Allfather isn't going to like that answer one bit.

Frankly my dear Allfather, I don't give a damn.

_And you take your time_  
_And you do your crime_  
_Well you made your bed_  
_I'm in mine_

**AN: Breakup, financial stress, who cares, Thor 2's ending was a mind fuck because WHERE THE HELL WAS ODIN DURING THAT and of course I knew Loki had to survive, but still...no Loki until Thor 3 or something like that. Until then, this and my taser trick story when I get it written down. **


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One- In Which a Plan Not Up to Caliber is Formed**

_Black shadow hangin' over your shoulder  
Black mark up against your name  
Your green eyes couldn't get any colder  
There's bad poison runnin' through your veins_

"Go to bed. There's a bunch of texts and voice mails from Ian. He's on his way back here." I tell Loki, as he slip out of his armor, shoving it in the duffel bag I bought for him at the sporting goods store. "He won't look in my room. Otherwise I look in his."

He chuckles at me, kissing my cheek. "You didn't even try lying to the Allfather?"

"I was a little busy praying for cell signal so I could call Pepper and tell her I'm fine. Malekeith did cancel our plans for this week though. I ought to just go to New York sometime…" I mumble, changing into a pair of cut offs and a plaid pyjama top over my tank top, my bra already off, the first thing I'd ripped off when Loki got us back here. I can't believe he even managed that. I know he's injured. He may be immortal, but he doesn't heal as fast as Asgardians do, something Frigga used to help him out with, but she can't anymore.

"How much time…" The sound of a key in the lock and Darcy Lewis' voice bumbling on about something made him stop and curl up under my covers, hiding his face from the door as best he could, pulling the covers up to his shoulders and fake shivering. Maybe he's really shivering. It hasn't even been two days since his mother died defending Jane Foster.

"Oh come on," I mutter, stepping out to greet the two with false cheer.

"So you know as your boss we really can't do that again. That was more a saving the world and I am having a dry spell right now and hellllloooo….." Darcy trailed off as I stepped into view and I remembered I still had a few visible injuries from when I'd helped out with the dark elf problem back in Asgard. Sif had been annoyed a mortal could fight so well, especially a female mortal.

"There were orcs from Lord of the Rings running rampant near my job." I lie smoothly. "I had to do something didn't I?" I hold up a thing of pepper spray I'd grabbed as I walked out of my room to use as a prop. "My stun gun wasn't charged enough though."

Darcy Lewis looks at me with a confused look then just nods. "Okay well, I'm going to get going. Thanks for saving my life. Not kissing you again since I'm your boss Ian. Good to meet you whoever you are. Are you his girlfriend? You look a little older than him and well…"

"I'm his cousin. Third cousin, five times removed."

"Oh." She leaves, mercifully, and Ian slumps on the couch, like a love sick puppy.

"So, how's your internship?" I offer him an apple, as I take one and bite into it, wondering if the apples of immortality Loki spoke of briefly with Odin tasted any better, were all perfect, or if there were mealy tasting apples of immortality too.

"Insane. I'm thinking of resigning, getting a real job."

I smirk. "You probably should. I'm moving out." I hadn't planned to, I just spat it out. Truth is, since Jane Foster is Thor's girl, and Darcy Lewis is Jane Foster's intern and Ian is Darcy Lewis' intern (deep breath after that one), Loki won't be easy to hide.

"What?" Ian cried, starting to slump a bit less.

I turn and wave to him, then flip him off, as I stalk into my room, dialing Tony as I do so.

"Hello?"  
"Thought you might want to know and share with Pepper that I survived the dark elves in London. They only wanted to destroy the whole universe. Where the hell was SHIELD? Thor had to do it all."

"Huh. The Ironman signal must not be working." Tony's response was standard. He was probably a little in his cups, but I don't care. I shouldn't even have told him where I was and that I knew who Thor was so flippantly.

"No long time no hear from or see? No what the fuck baby sis? No love?" I whine, knowing he just wants to hear I'm not at the station needing bailed out like the last time. "I'm not in jail." That's all he cares about.

Loki chuckles, sitting on the edge of my bed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, one of Tony's AC/DC t-shirts that he actually did steal. He holds out his arms and I sit next to him, leaning my head on his shoulder. He knows about my family issues, just like I know about his.

"Did you take my AC/DC shirt in the panic after the Chitari invasion?"

"No. My boyfriend did." I smirk up at Loki, who smirks back. The one constant in our cons here on Earth is that we're always dating, even if we have to keep it behind the scenes.

"Oh God. Now you're dating and ruining the Stark family name," Tony's serious. He can be a playboy and make headlines trashing his home, but I can't go off the grid and be who I am without complete condemnation. I've never given the name Stark to the police. "Can you mail it back to me?"

"No. He looks hotter in it than you ever did." Loki is next to me, his arms around me, kissing that little spot just behind my ear that makes me distracted. "Listen I just called to say I'm alive still. Have fun with SHIELD and your metal suit. Heard you destroyed most of them." I hang up and disconnect the battery, smash the SIM and look towards my closet where my suitcases are, then at Loki, who is bruised and a long gash in his side worries me. "We're going to have to move out you know."

He nods, floating the suitcases down from my shelf. "It's the nature of things. Where to now?"

"A hotel nearby."

He starts packing my things with magic, as I pull out the notebook full of places I've been and places I haven't been. Hotels where discretion is in my budget. "A poor choice. The neighborhood is low end. I won't fit in."

I laugh softly as I flip to Paris, on a whim. "Funds are low. I at least need to pull a con somewhere."

He sighs. "I could just use magic to…"

"We need to keep you dead Loki," I sigh. "We have one option, and it's not pretty."  
"New York."

"New York."

He finishes packing the important stuff, and I throw my personal items into it. He had the decency to let me pack my own bras. "You do know SHIELD still has a heavy presence there, right?"

"I know." I hand him a sheet of information I convinced Pepper to give me after the latest attempts on Tony's life. "SHIELD has a large shipment of currency being shipped directly to their vault in their New York office. We go in as transfers from the London field office. London has the fallout from Maliketh to deal with. We go in here and now to plant our files for verification. Then we con our way onto the detail for the currency and alter it to be only what we need."

"So we're in the business of heists now." His voice is distasteful, but in his eyes I see that he understands why, and sees where our common language goes into it. Getting to everything that we need.

"We have to con our way into both offices, and then back out as _entirely different people_."

"Simple. Magic." Loki said, not entirely impressed with the plan.

"At the same time, we take something else from their vaults."

He perks up. "We already hold the power over the Allfather with our little trophy. Now we get something to hold over Nick Fury."  
"Exactly." I smirk at him. "Using that success, we propel ourselves into fame, pulling jobs on various government agencies around the world until we are the secret keepers of the planet. I rather like that idea."

He smiles at me. "We need access codes."  
"Already on it." I hold up a dress and a pair of heels that I hadn't packed. "Do you think I should wear pale or crimson lip stick?" Maybe this is more of a revenge plan on my own brother.

_Evil walks behind you  
Evil sleeps beside you  
Evil talks arouse you  
Evil walks behind you_

**_AN: Not the best example of where this is going. I just needed to spit out a plan and make myself stick to it. _**

**_I should probably identify the lyrics used in the prologue are from the song Let it Rock by Kevin Rudolf (from a version not featuring Wiz Khalifa). AC/DC's Evil Walks is this chapter's song. The song doesn't entirely fit, except for the lyrics I chose. I didn't realize that it was in Iron Man 2's soundtrack until just now, so no hidden messages there. _**

**_Comments, even with criticism (as long as it's not highly impolite) are more than welcome. I'm just sitting here in my flat catching up on shows writing). Also, I'm hunting for a cover but so far no dice. _**

**_Favorites are good to. Thanks to IvyLinkin. _**

**_Follow or favorite if you choose._**

**_Please note: Author's notes now restricted to just the identity of the song used and any notes about delays in posting. Otherwise monstrosities like this will occur way too frequently. _**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- In which men are men and liars and liars

_When the storm arrives, would you be seen with me  
By the merciless eyes I've deceived_

It wasn't all that hard coming up with the way to get the access codes. Loki posed as a guy hosting a party and put me on the invite list. It was merely that simple. The trick was getting in and out before the real host figured out that I wasn't a member of the Russian delegation coming to meet with SHIELD. The other danger was that Natasha Romanoff would be on hand. She was, after all, the most well-known Russian in SHIELD, well, former Russian.

I wasn't supposed to know that though.

"What do you need?" Loki said, from where he reclined on the bed, resting, still not up to his full strength. He's a god. It shouldn't take him this long to heal, but staving off serious injuries must be an issue for him, or maybe Odin's done something in retaliation already.

"You need your strength." I pull the red wig out of its protective encasement and start fixing the minor little issues with it. "Rest."

"That wig won't help you with SHIELD." He flicked a hand lazily and my hair color changed to the color of the wig, and it was already put up neatly in the chignon that I had instructions for pulled up on my phone. "It'll last until I tell it to stop."

I take a deep breath and shake my head. "You know that's not the deal Loki."

"You're not in charge of everything. You're merely a con-artist Lady Stark. I'm a god."

I snort. "An exiled injured god at best darling." We aren't anything special to each other. Just co-workers in a twisted way. Frigga, rest her soul (if that's what Asgardian culture would say), always wished there would be something more. She said I was the yin to his yang, to put her long poetic speech into a short statement. She said Loki needed someone to love him besides her. Love is a strong word. We see the use of having each other around. I heave a sigh. "Did you check the rest of the guest list?"

"The real host was arriving, and I can't hold too many illusions at once." Liar.

"What aren't you telling me?" I reach for the earrings I conned out of a jewelry shop owner in Italy a few years ago that was a personal favorite, and slip them into my ears gently, before reaching for the garment bag holding the dress I'd borrowed from a designer store. The sequined fabric hugged my curves and the cut made sure I'd be an easy focus point for men at the party.

"Nothing of any importance to you," Loki snapped, turning on his side away from me, so that I couldn't see his profile anymore. Something's bothering him.

"Thor and Jane are going to be there, aren't they, so that SHIELD can show its neat allies and the brains they have at their disposable?" I sneered, not impressed. I'd met Jane Foster when she was in Asgard, although she wouldn't remember me. She'd struck me as a two dimensional woman. One dimension for her science, and another dimension for Thor.

"Seriously? How can you always figure me out like that?" He sneered back, sarcastically. "No. Nothing like that. There's rumors of an Asgardian delegation around the time we're planning our big finale."

"So that is important to me." I kissed his forehead gently, noting it was still warmer than usual. "Rest."

"I'm fine."

I have a gun made of new materials from Stark Industry that I conned my way into. It's taped with medical tape to my thigh, hidden just above the slit in my dress. Loki wasn't impressed that I was carrying it, but I'd rather be caught with Stark Industry tech than with Asgardian weaponry.

It's a comfort as I smile at the doorman, giving my name in a fake Russian accent, as good as I could manage. It's easier to speak Russian with an accent then to speak English with a Russian accent. I've been British for way too long. "I'm in," I whisper to myself, knowing it doesn't matter.

I spot the target Loki and I agreed on after surveillance of the London SHIELD office easily. He's by the bar, looking nervous as he sips a rather effeminate cocktail. He's a technician, one of their lower echelon, but with enough clearance that we can use him for our purposes. He's fair game for the part I'm playing.

I sashay up to him, swinging my hips, and hoping that this works without me having to take him upstairs. He's not my type—fat, bad comb-over job, the works. "You look lonely," I purr, staying in character. "Vodka. Straight. Best quality you've got." I order the bar-tender, leaning to show my breasts to the bar-tender and the technician.

"So. Where do you go to find a good time around here?" I look at the technician, smiling at him. "Nadia."

"Andrew." He stutters. From there, it's a cakewalk.

"I'm in charge this time," Loki demanded from his perch in the nest of blankets on the bed. He was doing better, practicing his magic, ignoring my requests that he stops. We've moved hotels again, this time to one near the airport, using different faces, and different looks. I've got black hair now, the color of Sif's and I'm pretending I'm here as I strut around the hotel, fretting about my "husband's" lost passport. In reality I'm waiting for a fake passport to come in for Loki from a verified source and we have to plant our identities in SHIELD'S database.

"Fine. Your show. You take full responsibility if we fail."

"We won't fail. I'm the god of lies and trickery," he retorted, calmly, "now, for the plan."

"The technician is male, so obviously it makes more sense to have you go in as him, while I delay him on the subway. The only issue is making sure that he doesn't find out he was in before."

"What would you usually do?" Loki asked, a smirk on his face as he lit the candles I had on the table for a fake candlelight dinner. We were posing as newlyweds after all. We had so many laughs quietly to ourselves as we faked having sex, banging things, fake moaning, the works. Loki had used illusions once, but it had caused a rather awkward moment between the two of us as we dealt with illusions of the two of us getting down and dirty.

"You're the god here. What do you suggest?" I sprawl across the couch, my feet aching from my heels. He doesn't respond for a few minutes as I remove the shoes carefully and massage my feet slowly. "Fine. I'd drug him with a heavy drug, probably goodnight Cinderella, and suggest that he call in sick for a few days after today, after planting the idea that he did go to work and he left early, feigning illness. The few days off is so that the drug will be mostly out of his system. What's the god approved method?"

"Illusions, but we'd need to recreate too much in too little time, and I don't entirely have my strength back." Loki admitted his weakness only because he knew I could call his bluffs each and every time. "How do we get Cinderella to go goodnight?"

"Goodnight Cinderella is the name of a drug. Getting it on the black market is difficult, but I know a good chemist who owes me one."

Loki nodded, leaning back on his pillows. "You know we ought to talk about things Rhosyn." He sounds more like the Loki I hung out with back before, when things weren't entirely like this, with a big plan.

"Loki, the fact of the matter is, things get awkward when co-workers start sleeping together. That's why I said no," I lie.

He looks at me with a roll of his eyes. "You only changed your mind after we almost got busted at the old hotel in the elevator."

I sigh, sitting up, picking up my shoes, ready to go to my bed on the pull out couch in the front room. "Listen Loki, I care for you, but you just lost your mother, and she was a dear friend to me while I was in Asgard." Seeing as how I had to stay the hell away from Loki, I had to have someone to talk to, when I wasn't even supposed to be there.

"Rhosyn," he whispers, his voice low and hoarse, husky even. "Please, at least just sleep in the bed. I won't try anything. I just…..it won't be like it was before. I promise."

"Loki," I breathe out his name, changing course, knowing that we're both liars. We'll try something, of course we will, and it will be the same as before. Neither of our word is good for anything.

_If you come inside, things will not be the same  
When you return to my night  
If you think you've won  
You never saw me change  
The game that we have been playing_

**AN: Lyrics for this chapter You Know My Name by Chris Cornell (gotta love Bond's intro music choices right?)**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three- In which Loki becomes Mr. Darcy

_With my heart upon my sleeve  
I head down low  
I still feel broken_

We're a tangled mess in the morning. I'm not surprised. Neither of us even bother discussing the lies from last night about this not going to happen. It feels normal, it feels good. I can almost imagine Frigga smiling at us from wherever she is. Although it would be creepy if she watched.

"Hey." It's unoriginal, but it's something, as I look at the green eyes opening sleepily across from me. It took a while before I ever saw Loki sleep, but now he's acting like a normal person who's been injured. Sometimes I wonder.

"We've slept in too late. We need to get moving," he's looking over my shoulder, not even sparing me a look, to look at the alarm clock.

I huff, rolling over, shrugging it off. It's always been this way. Half the time we're inseparable and great, the other half of the time it's like this, where we don't care about each other much more than getting the job done. The detachment is excellent. Excellently painful, but I'm never going to tell him that. In the end, he's a god and I'm a puny mortal. "I get it." I get up, wrapping the blanket on top of the sheets around me as I head out to where my suitcase waits. "I'll go out to see my chemist friend."

He appears in front of me and grabs my arm, roughly but gently. "Rhosyn."

"We need the drug in order to pull off the heist. If we get caught, we don't want a magical connection making the issue go up the chain and pulling in any of the bigwigs who can cause us problems Loki," I protest. "We don't have that much time. I was stupid when we got back from Asgard and I called Tony and…"

There's a knock at the door, and Loki shifts himself into the picture of who he was when we checked in. Blonde curly hair, black slacks, black dress shirt open at the top and the sleeves rolled up to near his elbows. He heads for the door, while I shove a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt on, grabbing a black blazer and sliding into a pair of ankle booties while I teeter towards the sound of a very familiar voice. Whatever was going to happen, whatever he had grabbed me for, is gone, and I'm never going to find out why he didn't want me to just walk off and….

"Is Rhosyn here?"

"Pepper!" I rush to give the woman a hug. "Please tell me Tony isn't here."

"The Avengers were summoned to help with security at SHIELD while a delegation from Asgard comes to help with the Aether clean-up." She shrugged. "I came along, and I don't know everything that I just said, I swear."

Loki floats to the background, giving me a worried look from behind Pepper.

"That's great. You aren't going to tell him I'm still in town are you?" I ask, giving her the puppy dog eyes.

"Did you just get up and throw on clothes in case you had to run?" Pepper accuses me, "I thought you were more careful than this."

"Meet my boyfriend." I tell her the truth. She can see the sex hair. There is no getting out of this one. I couldn't find a hair tie and Loki didn't think to do something about me, he was too busy helping himself hide. I suppose that is a priority though. "He's a professor here in England."

"Oh." She spins around and extends her hand out, friendly and business professional. "Pepper Potts, CEO Stark Industries. I'm so sorry for my initial greeting. Rhosyn rarely misses our meetings and three in a row…"  
"William Darcy. I'm afraid that was my fault. I had a family emergency that I needed her support for." Wow Loki. What the hell was that. "My mother died." Oh. Damn. We're pulling that card out. Truth, from the god of mischief and trickery.

"I'm so sorry. This is a bad time isn't it?" Pepper stood awkwardly in the doorway, but Loki wrapped an arm languidly around my waist, pulling me back to let Pepper come in more. "I can go…"

"No. Come in. I'll just have to tell you who you're visiting if SHIELD runs this by you." I give her a sheepish smile. I should really stop meeting up with her. "Do you want anything to eat? We might as well order room service, right William?"

He shrugs. "I have that meeting with my faculty supervisor, remember love?" He kissed the side of my neck gently, sweetly even. "Why don't you go out for once?" I feel him whisper against my throat the real point. "I'm going to pretend to be you at your meeting. Send me any information I need," as he kisses my hair near my ear.

"Alright babe," I croon, as he leaves, but not before I give him a tight hug. "Call me."

"Always."

Pepper doesn't stay too much longer after that. She and I never have more than a few minutes stolen here and there. What Tony the arse doesn't knowing won't hurt him. Maybe. I'm never sure what to think when she leaves. Sometimes I'm glad she came, other times I'm not. This time I'm not. 

It bothers me that I have absolutely no clue why Loki was so interested in me not rushing off to meet my contact that he teleported, when we're trying to not use his magic because the little bit he has used since SHIELD hit the ground after Malekith's failed attack has raised warnings. SHIELD did come check out the hotel saying they had a warning that there was "potentially dangerous activity" there. Terrifying. I'd been crazed with worry until Loki had just slipped off and procured us wait staff uniforms.

Loki, or should I say William Darcy, gets back late afternoon, and I'm waiting for him, everything packed, the final details prepared, just waiting for him. I need an explanation. I'd tried to forget about all the weirdness from this morning, but Loki? Nah.

I'd already gotten an angry text from my contact saying that they hadn't been happy that I sent a professor to do my work. I hadn't responded. Apparently William Darcy is the identity of the day for Loki. I just hope it doesn't trace back to our hotel until it's too late to find us here, and of course we haven't given any real information that could lead to our next destination. We're flying to New York via Paris.

He enters finally at dinner, carrying take-out from my favorite sushi place. Buttering me up.

"I know exactly who you are Loki. No lies. No tricks. What was going on this morning?"

He takes a deep breath, handing me my usual order and a wine cooler. He's himself again, black hair, green eyes, but the same elegantly sexy clothing. "We're two tricksters of different qualities. We speak the same language and we have a chaotic plan of chaos in order to get the money we need to disappear forever here on Midgard." He pauses. "And that's not my problem. It's that we occasionally sleep together and never talk about it. We told my mother that we were an item, and well…."

I realize the bottom line. He hated lying to his mother, and he just needed things defined. "Loki…."  
He takes a breath, waiting for something. I look at him curiously, and then it happens. For the first time outside of a con or outside of sex, but it's different this time. It means something other than maintaining a lie or sheer lust

Gods of mischief and trickery save me.

I kiss him back, ignoring the sushi take-out, because it's just awesome raw fish. We go back to the sushi after a few minutes, smiling at each other awkwardly. "So… Mr. Darcy," I begin.

He smirks at me. "At least I said William instead of Fitzwilliam."

"You cad!" I shriek, realizing he'd actually read _Pride and Prejudice_ when I'd convinced Frigga to bring him a copy of it. "You actually read it!"

"I was stuck in the same cell day in and day out. Of course I did." He said, as if it was the most well-known fact in the world.

I laugh as neatly as I can through a bite of sushi, happy for the moment, hoping that it will last and what's broken in the both of us can be repaired. Family problemos and all that.

_Where are you?  
Where are you?  
I'm lost and I need you more than  
A heart upon my sleeve, broken down_

**AN: Heart Upon My Sleeve by Avicii**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four- In Which SHIELD Gains Two Stellar New Agents

_See I've come to burn your kingdom down  
And no rivers and no lakes can put the fire out  
I'm gonna raise the stakes, I'm gonna smoke you out_

"So you did get the Goodnight Cinderella right?" I ask, as I zip up the back of the tight pencil skirt, holding my breath in reflexively, tucking the silken green shirt in neatly, before reaching for the leather blazer.

Loki chuckles from where he lays on the bed wrapped in the sheet, still looking like himself, but with slightly shorter hair, after I gave him a haircut that he asked for. It suits him, and he blends in better with the environment we're working in here. On Earth. "Of course I did. It's in your purse. The hidden pouch."

I shake my head, enjoying the feeling of my hair down before tying up it quickly. "Alright, I'm ready."

He takes a deep breath. "Alright. Once I do this we have half an hour to get out of here before SHIELD gets a strike team here."

"Understood. You'll check us out and then proceed to work?"

"Relax Rhosyn," he said, chuckling lightly. "I made the plan. I'll keep to the plan. How long do you need for the drug to take effect?"

"Not that long. I'm giving him a concentrated dose, and it should start working as soon as I can get him to the apartment." I pick up my purse, slinging it over my shoulder quickly. "Keep an eye out. You may be the god of tricks Loki, but…"

He laughs, getting up, without any shame, padding over on the cold floor to kiss me gently on the cheek. "You take care of yourself Rhosyn."

I'm an idiot, and I just nod. "As long as you take care of yourself trickster."

"Next time I see you we'll be SHIELD agents, con-artist. Don't screw up your end of the deal."

"Relax," I said, as I waltzed out of the room, head held high, slipping around the cameras just like my ex taught me before he went to prison. It wouldn't do for me to be seen with red hair and looking like a woman that SHIELD already probably was looking for.

Everything goes smoothly, or at least that's what Loki says as we pass each other on the way to our seats. The illusion he made wore off before I got here, and luckily I was peeing in the bathroom when it happened, otherwise I'd have had some explaining to do. There's an email from Pepper telling me that Tony's peeved that he can't find me, and the lies I told Ian are busted. She also says Ian mentioned a mysterious boyfriend, so I know that Loki and I don't have enough time left, if we delay at all, we're doomed.

I call Loki's burner phone when I disembark the train in Paris, looking around for him, and not seeing him.

"Just turn around Rhosyn," he says, picking up without a hello or any time for me to talk, hanging up almost immediately. I huff impatiently and turn around, and there he is.

He's changed, and I can tell it's not simply an illusion. He taught me the subtle tells he has, once, when we were bored, and I told him I refused to do anything romantic inclined with him unless I knew he wasn't just a well-crafted illusion. I had spent a few hours on the coast, while he'd gone ahead. He'd used the time well. Jeans, a white shirt and a leather jacket wrap around his form as if they're a part of him, and he's gotten his natural hair cut closer to his head, where it lay casually, looking astonishing. There's a scarf draped gently around his neck and the smile on his face tells me the play.

"Darling!" I cry, rushing towards him and wrapping my arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his lips, which move willing under my own, and I want it to be real, but I can never tell. We're both such liars. True, last night, but that was last night. This is tonight.

"It's been so long," he says, pulling back for a moment then burying his head in my neck. "I've got us a flight in three hours," he whispers in my ear. "SHIELD is looking for you, your brother is causing a fuss."

"So we hide under their noses." I smirk, as I lean against his shoulder, while we turn and walk towards the station exit. "You look good."

His face holds a self-satisfied smirk and I love it. He's genuinely happy for a moment, no moping, no mourning. But I know it won't last, and it doesn't. "If only mother could see me now."

"New York looks a bit better than the last time I saw it," Loki said with a blank expression on his face as we get out of the cab outside of our hotel. Hopefully we can get SHIELD sanctioned lodgings, for free, after we check in. The plan is to go to work at 8 am tomorrow morning and become part of the regular faces among SHIELD, conning our way into them believing that we're one of them. When the shipment arrives, in a few days, with the two of us working at our full talent potential, we should be able to at least get close enough to see what's going on.  
"You know we could have just decided to be café workers," I point out, as we walk up to the front desk. "Reservation for two adjoining rooms under Janice Evans." The head of the London stations' travel department. A useful trip.

"And you are Agents Hall and Fitzgerald?"

"Yes." Loki said, flashing a hastily forged badge that I'd made on the flight over. The no magic until the heist rule was frustrating, but it had to be done. SHIELD's new monitors created by my brother and Dr. Banner with the help of Thor were just too good.

"Welcome to New York." The man hands over key cards and gulps. "There isn't an alien attack expected here too right? We just recovered from the last one."

"Those aliens were freaky right?" I give a nervous laugh. "Their boss never touched down on Earth though. He had pawns working for him all along."

Loki gives me a glare. "He's just a front desk clerk. He doesn't have clearance for that Hall."

I huff and grab my suitcase again. "Yes sir." Let the games begin.

"Sorry, we were told we'd get new badges here," I said, pretending to be nervous. "My boss is already inside and…"  
"Just let here in Owen. Her papers check out," a man snaps from behind me, waving his level 7 clearance badge at the scanner quickly and dragging me through hurriedly as he snaps "Ward plus one" at the beeping scanner.

"Thanks," I tell him, glad that I'd left a button or two open on my blouse.

"Grant Ward," he introduces himself, holding out a hand. "Special Operations."  
"Jemima Hall." I introduce myself, reveling in the British accent. "London Security Operations Task Force."

"We'll be working together on guarding the shipment until it reaches the plane I usually work off of. From there Agents Coulson and May will take over primary care and I'll rejoin my team to assist them."

"Shouldn't we wait until we get to briefing?" I raise an eyebrow. "I know my boss is already there waiting. Or at least, my boss for the trip. He's an unsufferable prick really. The power gets to his head."

Grant Ward rolls his eyes. "I want to get this over as quickly as possible. The shipment comes in tonight."

Tonight. Shit. Bad intel. "Sorry I wasn't here sooner. I was informed differently."  
"There's a con-artist who may be trying to get her hands on the shipment. We need to move fast so she doesn't have time. So far there's no trace of her leaving Paris yet."

Of course there isn't, I scoff in my head. I left Paris in one of Loki's illusions, until I was in the airport bathroom getting ready to board, and I avoided the cameras after it. That was a pain to do, until the moment when I boarded. "I understand."  
"You and your superior had no listed contact information."  
"We were on a dark assignment following down a lead concerning a missing agent," I lied smoothly. "We didn't have time to acquire any SHIELD gear before reporting in here. The egotist has his badge though." Translated: we're the con artists, and I only had time to make one passable SHIELD badge before we came here. I'm only mortal and the god doesn't want to use his magic unless it's an emergency, since the illusions are setting off warning lights sometimes.

"Understood. The agent?"

"False alert." I lie, knowing that false alerts are covered up whenever possible, from when Tony had false alerted Pepper as kidnapped once. That had been funny.

We reach the operations briefing center shortly, with nothing else said between us, and he's definitely made a good study of the tops of my breasts. I finger my neck at the spot that Loki had discovered was a particularly sensitive spot for me and smiled faintly. Loki is already there, discussing things with Nick Fury himself like everything is fine. His hair is reddish hued now, more of a strawberry hued auburn, and a beard hides the familiar shape of his mouth. "Agent Hall, you're late."  
"I had trouble with security, because you dragged us here before I could grab my authentication from the fax in the room." I say, with a bit of sass. "Agent Ward got me in." I wonder who the woman is who's sitting awkwardly in a corner, a metal bracelet holding her hand to the wall.

"So….." the woman begins.

"I'll leave you to planning. Agent Fitzgerald, thank you for your update. " With that, Nick Fury swishes out of the room and I drop my jaw.

"That was Director Fury…"

"Shut your mouth. You're collecting bugs."

"So as I was saying," the woman begins again. "I'm here for what purpose or is this just another babysitting detail Agent Ward?"

"Skye…"

Loki smiled. "I'm sure if Agent Ward is fine with it we can use your skills to create numerous false trails for the shipment." Smart. He smiled at her with that winning panty-soaker smile of his and I could see Skye start to think more positively of helping out. I was jealous, but then again, I'd had last night, and if this was necessary to pull this off.

"There's more to this than meets the eye." I point out, realizing that Fury would only be here if we didn't need to use the heist to break in to find something more important to steal.

"Yes," Grant Ward said with a sigh. "We're transporting an extremely important prototype weapon as well."

Bingo.

_They can keep me out  
'Til I tear the walls  
'Til I save your heart  
And to take your soul  
For what has been done  
Cannot be undone_

**AN: Seven Devils by Florence + The Machine**

**Review, follow, favorite if you feel the desire to. I know it's a bit rushing, but I have a plan**


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five- In Which Skye Figures Something Out

_Pound for pound anywhere you go_

_Yo, ain't no city in the world like this_

_An if you ask how I know I gots ta plead the fifth_

I sat at my station, typing quickly, entering the data that I'd been given to add to the system, and keeping a cool impassive look on my face as I created my own wanted sheet. I doubt whether or not this is really a con, except that I am tricking all these people into thinking I am one of them.

I turn to the side as Clint Barton walks past, headed into the briefing room, where he's about to be debriefed by one Agent Sitwell, who'd spent the past few hours staring down my shirt as he "supervised" the "London methodology." Loki had disappeared with Skye to begin work on the trails, while I had to sit here and do basic data-entry while Agent Grant Ward was off doing all the stuff I needed to be involved in.

"So, I set everything up with the hot guy you showed up with. How can he be a SHIELD agent and be so…refined?" Skye asked, like a curious child, sliding into the seat next to me that had been abandoned by an agent going off duty.

"I'm not privy to that information," I said, tapping send on the wanted sheet, sending it off to the hub for distribution.

"Okay then. I just…" Skye sighed. "I'm finally getting over my ex, and…"  
"Don't tell anyone, please?" I ask her, leaning in close. "He and I are, well…."  
"Oh." Skye looked down for a moment. "I'm kinda hoping to get a thing going with my training agent anyways, and I don't want to mess that all up."

"Got it. I have to finish this before we get to work. You two have everything good to go?"

Skye nodded, but held up her hand. "I can't use the computers here, so he's done most of the work."  
"You win some, you lose some." I said cryptically, wondering how Loki had advanced his computer skills, or if he was resorting to trickery. "Do you know where Agent Ward went?"

"No." Skye shrugged, angry. "I'm not exactly trusted."  
"You and me both honey." I purr, finishing the last of the papers and standing up. "There a place to get a good cuppa tea around here?"

She shrugs. "I know where a good coffee spot is."

"That'll have to do. You Americans…." I keep the fake British accent as straight as I can, but she looks at me funny when I say Americans, because I slip up on the last syllable.

"Are you really British Agent Hall? Or is there something going on?"

I take a deep breath. "I spent some time in the states before I joined shield. American boyfriend," the lie comes off my tongue smoothly. I'm wearing fake prints, courtesy of a foray Loki and I had made in London before the trip to Asgard.

"Got it." Skye said, but I understand that she's not really believing it completely.

I finger my ID badge, wondering if I can make it through the day and long enough to do the heist. I'm a good con artist, but this is bigger game than before. My target is a whole organization, not just a few select people. But then, Loki has conned an entire realm. I guess my fate is in the hands of Loki, god of mischief and lies. My sex buddy.

Its pitch black out as we wait for the shipment. Loki and I, or rather, Agents Hall and Fitzgerald, have been issued standard SHIELD tactical suits, as has Skye. She's stoked to wear it, but I have a feigned indifference. It's not as comfy as Tony's Iron Man suit. I tried it on once when I was actually around. That started the last argument. That letting me near any form of great power is a bad point. It's running late.

I look at Loki, nervous, wondering what's going to happen if someone else gets to the convoy first. I roll my neck, trying to pop it, and Loki lets out a soft, quiet laugh. "Let me," he offers, but I shake my head. I can have him do it properly later.

"It'll be fine. We have a job to do," I remind him.

Agent Ward looks at me, nodding approvingly. Little does he know. Little does he know.

"So…." Skye begins, and I'm beginning to hate that word.

"I'm afraid there's been a change in plans," Loki says with a smile, winking at me. "We've been given opposing orders from Director Fury. That's what he was talking to me about." He climbs into one of the SHIELD vehicles. "He's currently enroute to London, and is not to be bothered. He has a meeting with Asgardian dignitaries to attend to. Skye, try to forget you ever heard that. Agent Hall?" He's imperious as he hits the start button and I gulp. I never actually taught him to drive ever.

"Can you drive?" I whisper, as I shut my door, and he rolls up his window. "I don't want to die."  
"Oh please. How easy can handling this mortal contraption be?" Loki protests, as he floors the gas, the tires spinning for a moment before he ends up back on the road, moving so fast.

"Where's the shipment?" I ask, after I realize that somehow he knows what he's doing. Maybe from one of the minds he enslaved back with the tessaract. I just shove the thoughts aside and hold on, disabling the transmitting tracker as fast as I can, while maintaining the car's ability to travel. "And this was not the plan."

"It changed, based on intel Fury gave to me." Loki laughed, and I couldn't help but smile at him. "It's highly ironic."

"Of course." I snort, feeling frustrated. "Where's the shipment?"  
"It's waiting for us around the corner. I paid off a few cons to do the actually theft so we aren't implicated until Fury gets back from his trip to Asgard."

"They're letting Fury into Asgard? Oh God."

"The best part is I got him to authorize us taking the shipment to it's next destination." Loki said with a smirk. "I am silvertongue after all."

I roll my eyes. "Don't let your ego get to you." He smirked, shifting out of the SHIELD uniform and into his new uniform of a dress shirt and slacks.

"My ego doesn't need to get to me. It is me. I hope you packed a swimsuit Rhosyn."

_Party in the city where the heat is on_

_All night, on the beach till the break of dawn_

_Welcome to Miami_

_Buenvenidos a Miami_

**AN: Miami by Will Smith (I couldn't resist using this song...)**

**Review, Follow, Favorite, etc. It means a lot. Yes, it's short, and the chapters are going to vary in length a lot more now until I'm on hols. It's the final countdown though so woot. **


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter Six- In Which the Plan is Forgotten

Sleep in peace when day is done

And this old world is a new world

And a bold world

For me

In retrospect, when he said it was Miami, I should have realized it would be a bad idea. My SHIELD burner already has several angry calls from Agent Grant Ward, and one from Skye, who merely told me that I'd better not ruin her chances with SHIELD. I couldn't care less honestly. SHIELD was a bunch of jackals, and besides, they thought my brother valuable, and their actions towards Loki before he was transported back to Asgard with the tesseract by Thor...

Loki and I laundered the cash through several different old contacts of mine down the east sea-board, got rid of everything except the drive containing the weapons plans, and secreted the plans carefully, always taking them with us, in order to avoid them getting stolen by someone raiding whatever dingy hotel room we put up at. We'd lost the SHIELD vehicles within five minutes of hitting New Jersey, replacing them with one dingy little Honda, which I drove, since Loki had turned out to be just as rotten of a driver as I thought he would.

I checked my voicemail in Richmond, and my email in Bethseda. I cancelled my meetings with Pepper permanently in Charleston when Loki decided that it was too risky, after Tony released a public statement removing me from my inheritance. He named me as disgrace, and that he never wanted to hear of me as his sister ever again. I deleted the email account and destroyed the SIM completely, then cancelled the account. I spent the night crying, splurging on a room separate from Loki. He didn't come, claiming that he didn't want to use magic to get in, and that he didn't want to cause a disruption trying to get me to come to the door.

But I heard him through the thin walls, as I leaned against the wall bordering on his room, talking to me, telling me stories from his childhood, lullabies Frigga used to sing to him, and I fell asleep, waking up freezing to hear him still talking, sounding exhausted. He'd stayed awake the next day of Starbuck's iced coffees from the gas station we stopped at to refuel. The zig-zagging pattern we took down the cost was getting old, but sometimes the scenery was beautiful.

Loki admitted that maybe Midgard wasn't all bad in the Appalachians, as we stayed at a tiny log cabin for free, squatting in the rental that no one was staying at, keeping our footprint as minimal as possible, using magic to erase our tire tracks.

Miami was the perfect place to blend in, and hide. I dig in the beach bag and find the suntan lotion, pulling it out and leaning forward, untying the back of my bikini casually, leaving the neck tied to keep it secure. "Can you reapply this for me Will?" I said, since he'd stuck with William Darcy, insisting that he'd only used it with Pepper and at the hotel, and the name William Darcy was probably common enough to stick with. Translated: he loved messing with my mind, and the mind of any Pride and Prejudice fan.

He leaned forward, his sunglasses still on, his shirt off, taking the bottle from me, and starting to apply it. His hands are cold, but soothing in the heat of the Miami sun. "Do you mind putting more on me when you're done?"

"You just got more an hour ago..it takes two, three hours to need a reapplication," I protest. "This stuff is expensive."

"For a former rich girl..."

"I haven't been considered a rich girl for a long time," I hiss, leaning in and grazing his ear gently with my teeth. "You need to understand Loki, I was cut off long before Tony realized that he needed to quit manufacturing weapons and be a better person. I've been on my own financially since I was twelve, except for what Tony gave me in the rare moments when I was behaving."

He hugs, me, retying my bikini for me and passing me the suntan lotion as he pulled back. "I'm not exactly normal you know love."

I laugh, ignoring the discarded magazine and it's stupidity. I'm not an airhead. I smooth the lotion into his skin and lean against him, feeling the smoothness and the hidden scars, breathing in the icy cool that's him. "How much longer do we stay here?"

"Until we figure out what's next."

"No plan? No grand ransom video?" I ask him, as I finish and put the bottle back in the bag. "No take that to SHIELD and to Fury?"  
"No." Loki said with a soft smile. "I don't want that anymore."  
"You're different, ever since that night..." I trail off, thinking of all that I learned about him that night crying on the floor.

"It was cathartic, to talk to someone about all of it, and not be blamed." Loki said. "You never even brought it up. What I've done."

"The way I see it, from what I understand, the people who judge you have pulled the same shit, they just want to pin their hatred of it on you because you're different. And you need to show them you can move on and become what they are-an immortal being, a god, living with the guilt of the past, or the lack of guilt, who has moved on to genuinely care now, or at least so it is hoped."

Loki gave a gentle laugh. "Did the Allfather say anything to you?"

"No. Your mother did." I wait for him to tense, but he doesn't. His eyes just fill up with a pain, no tears, just undiluted pain. "She told me that she loved you, no matter what you said to her, and that you hoped you'd take that love you hold for her and give it to someone else, someone who will believe in you more than she ever did. She regretted not being firmer in protecting you and helping you."

He looks at me and shakes his head. "No more. Please...I..."

The look in his eyes. I reach out and put a hand on his forearm. "Loki?"

"It's Will now. I'm an exile, and that name..."  
"It's your name," I whisper, leaning forwards. "You can't deny it. You're trying to shove it all down and hide it behind the idea of change."  
"You do the same thing," he snipped back at me, his expression not changing from the stunned look of pain.

"You call me by my real name," I whisper, leaning back, startled, nervous, knowing that if he gets mad enough that he might resort to magic and do something to me.

"Rhosyn. Yes, but you hide under so many faces, that I doubt there has ever been a time besides the time I was talking to you through a wall." He paused.

"I answer your questions if you answer mine, but not out here in the open Will." I stress his name.

He stands up, throwing our stuff quickly into our two bags, grumpy and noncommunicative. He picks up both bags, leaving me my shoes and mini shorts, that I pull on quickly, dashing after him, wondering if this is going to end well or poorly.

He reaches the car, a convertible of all things, and sits his ass into the passenger seat, the stuff dumped into the trunk at a speed that would probably raise eyebrows, but in this place, anything seems to go, depending on the signs by the beach, or the neighborhood, the specifics and all. He doesn't wait imperiously like he once did. He puts his face in his hands and his shoulders shake.

I don't say anything, and I merely get in and drive back to the small rental house we procured, under more false names, parking in the garage, and climbing out, starting to get the things out of the trunk and shake the sand out from them.

"Leave it, it can keep, can't it? Or we can get a maid?" His voice is quiet, and the tiny hint of the imperious prince is weak. "Rhosyn...I hate fighting with people I care about, feeling like they don't understand me...you see..."  
"See what?" I ask him, as he doesn't respond, merely turns his head back away from me and gets out of the car, moving to unlock the door.

"I'll have that drink now," he whispered. "That drink from oh so long ago. I'll tell my story now. All of it, not just bits and pieces."

"I think that can be arranged."

I traced a finger delicately over an old scar that Odin had told the healers to leave as a lesson to the young prince who'd strayed too far, for what Odin thought was the last time.

"Loki," I whisper softly, feeling a regular voice would break the mood, as I lean against his shoulder, the coolness of his skin a relief from the muggy Miami weather. "Would you go back?

"I might. But there'd be a price to pay." He sighed. "I'm always going to be a liar and a trickster Rhosyn, it's who I am. I can try starting new, but...I need help, and the true north on my compass is dead."

I shift slightly, fighting the feeling of just wanting to curl up and relax in his arms, so that I can take care of this. "Loki..." I can't find the words to say what I want to say, so I just tilt my head and kiss him, hoping the kiss, as I lose the feeling of wanting to curl up and relax, and start to think maybe another round was in order, hoping it will communicate everything that needs to be said.

"Start over with me."

The words are unexpected and I pause for a moment. "What?"  
"Call your brother. Try to make amends. Then come with me. Start over. Let me show you my world, before everything went wrong." He kisses me again, then nips at my ear gently. "Show me your world. Show me the world I would have so blindly have conquered."

That does it. I kiss him fiercely, not responding, letting my body speak for me. If this be the result of starting over with him, then I'll do it every day.

Stars when you shine

You know how I feel

Scent of the pine

You know how I feel

Yeah, freedom is mine

And you know how I feel

**AN: Feeling Good by Muse**

**The chapter title refers to the content in a way and to what's happened with the plot. My original plans were for a longer, more drawn out fic, with a more extended look into Rhosyn the con-artist and Loki the liar and mischief maker. However, the muses had other ideas, thus this. **

**Review/Comment; Follow; Favorite. Take your pick or do it all. :) I have my tea, and my keyboard. **


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven- In which some time is skipped over

_I pledge my allegiance, to all things dark_

_And I promise on my damned soul_

_To do as I am told, Lord Beelzebub_

_Has never seen a soldier quite like me_

"Stark Industries, this is Clara Owens, Mr. Stark isn't in right now. He's out for surgery."

"Surgery?"  
"Ma'am, I can't give you any more information than that. Mr. Stark's orders." The woman is annoying, and I know that Tony will have programmed Jarvis to keep Loki out, probably with Thor's help to detect magic use. So sending Loki to find out isn't okay.

"Look Clara, my name is Rhosyn Stark, and wherever Tony is, I'm glad he survived the mess on the oil rig, but I need to talk to him. Now."

There's a long pause. "Um...Miss Stark...Mr. Stark didn't leave any protocol for if you called, except to notify the authorities."

"Did he tell you not to tell me that too? I'm sure he would have." A nervous laughter greets my snippy comment. "What's wrong with my brother now?"

"They've devised a way to remove the shards that are being held away from his heart by the reactor. He doesn't want to live with it anymore."

"New York." I pause. "Thank you Clara. I'll be sure to tell him to give you a good severance pay." I slam the pay phone down and turn to where Loki waits, leaning against the car with a worried look on his face. "Let's go. We're out of place in this neighborhood. A fucking pay phone. Really?"

He sighs. "What now?"

"I need the new access codes so I can get to Tony and Pepper. You up for that?" I slide into the driver's seat, tossing my flip-flops into the side pouch and tying my hair up into a messy bun, since we still have a convertible. "All we need is a foot in the door, so anyone's access code will do."

Loki gets in the passenger seat and buckles up, not saying a word. He waits until I've merged onto the freeway, heading towards the next stop on Route 66. It's hot outside, as we pass through Amarillo, and I wonder if this is really the best of ideas. "This wasn't what we talked about."

"I'm a con-artist. It's all I know how to do."

"You know how to do more than that. You were a doctor when I met you." Loki says, slumping in the seat, sulking. He handles the heat worse than I do, and all the vents are blasting towards him. I wonder if we should get rid of the convertible, even though we both adore the flashy Audi.

"I was a doctor who worked for SHIELD patching up spies and agents. I wasn't doing what I wanted."

"You could study more in Asgard, perhaps," he mused, looking through the album of memories we'd started over the past few months.

"Hate to break it to you, but I did help hold Odin captive." I smirk at him. "Anyways..."

"Rhosyn. I'm serious. We're fugitives here, if we go to Asgard to speak to Odin secretly we may be able to get protection here..."  
"And how are we going to get there? SHIELD monitors magic, they monitor the bifrost and those anomalies thanks to Jane and Darcy and..." I take a deep breath, accelerating further past the speed limit, hitting a hundred, hundred and ten.

"There's an Asgardian delegation in London. They're going to go to the Avengers tower in New York at some point, because the Avengers are still there. They've been making public appearances there all month for the anniversary. We fly there, talk to your brother, and piggyback home on the delegation." Loki seemed pleased that he'd thought of something so not complex, not his usual master scheme. The flaws in it were human in nature.

"You're starting to get out of practice. We definitely need to do something," I pull out my phone, still racing along the deserted highway, and start searching for the nearest airport and looking for flights to New York. "We sell the car for money to travel there. We've been living it up way too much."

"I'm a prince. It comes with the title," Loki said, with a pout.

"You're adopted love." I remind him gently. "And remember? We're working on no fancy airs for when you see Odin again. Look good and plead well and all that."

His pout increases and I roll my eyes. "There's a flight out of Houston in six hours. We can make it if I can keep this up without getting caught."

Loki rolls his eyes. "We won't. We're invisible. Just don't hit anything."

"Have I ever?" I retort, reaching over and starting to mess with him, so that he would be silent, well, silent except for what he couldn't control.

"Now boarding, Flight 666 to Topeka Kansas, last call." The airline voice chirps as we step out into the terminal in New York City.

I shiver involuntarily at the number, and wonder if something bad will happen on the flight.

"Listen Loki...about what's been going on," I whisper, as I navigate through the swarms of people, sticking close to him. He's worrying about something.

"I'm sorry that I haven't been myself. My old captor has been trying to reestablish his mental control over me. For that, I have to distance myself from you." He said, turning and clutching tightly at my hand. "Go get yourself in with the ambassadors. Go speak with father. Tell him what I've just told you." And then he's gone.

I somehow make it to the hotel room we booked, a few blocks from the tower, before I break down. I didn't really realize how emotionally attached I was to him, until he'd vanished. Who was is old captor? What did it mean?

I pick up the phone and dial Pepper's cell. It's a number I know by heart, and hopefully I would get a hold of her. Maybe the surgery was over, maybe it wasn't. I didn't care. I needed to hear from Pepper. She doesn't pick up. "Hey Pepper. Will and I just broke up, and I'm in New York. I heard about Tony's surgery and I just...I want to be near family. I'm at the Algonquin under my real name."

I put the phone down, hoping I wasn't going to contract bubonic plague from the germs, and pad towards the shower, not bothering to grab clean clothes from the suitcase I'd dumped on the foot of the bed. I'd wear a towel, put on some pyjamas, and hit the hay before it got too late. I turned the water up to steaming levels of heat, enjoying it. Staying with Loki, the water stayed lukewarm,because the way a piping hot shower would warm my skin up had a negative effect on him when he touched me. I was crying in the water, not caring if it dried out my skin and messed up my pores.

I stayed there until I heard the room phone ringing. I padded out, dripping water everywhere. "Hello?"

"Rhosyn! Thank God you called! I'm on my way to the Algonquin." Pepper's voice is tired, nervous, but happy. "I told Tony. He insists that you come stay at the tower. He needs you to be, well...he'll explain himself when he wakes up for his next series of meds."  
"So he's okay?"

"Yes." Pepper sounds so happy. "You broke up with the dream boat?"

"Sort of. I'll explain more later. Let me get dressed. Room 1642."

"Alright." Pepper hangs up and I bring a sigh of relief.

What did Loki mean? Why did he leave? Why is it safer to leave me bumbling about in the dark, going to Asgard blindly, once again, but without Loki by my side this time? I thought wildly about everything I knew about him as I slipped into a dark green sheath dress, sliding my feet into a pair of Louboutins. Who he was, what he was. What the public thought, what I thought. I'm a con artist. I can read people usually, but so help me, maybe he was what the called him really.

_I'm the fear that keeps you awake_

_I'm the shadows on the wall_

_I'm the monsters they become_

_I'm the nightmare in your skull_

_I'm a dagger in your back_

_An extra turn on the rack_

_I'm the quivering of your heart_

_A stabbing pain, a sudden start_

**AN: When You're Evil by Voltaire**


End file.
